Rent; The Pendle Hippodrome

The smog of fear will seep on stage when these Pendle actors return to musical theatre with an emotional rock show.
The cast of Rent, to be staged in Colne by Pendle Hippodrome Theatre Company, taken by Peter Anslow. (s)The cast of Rent, to be staged in Colne by Pendle Hippodrome Theatre Company, taken by Peter Anslow. (s)
The cast of Rent, to be staged in Colne by Pendle Hippodrome Theatre Company, taken by Peter Anslow. (s)

This September, Pendle Hippodrome Theatre Company will flood the stage with another downpour of musical hits.

Rent, a book and musical by Jonathan Larson, is loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera, La Bohème.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Pinning together the lives of impoverished young artists in New York City’s East Village - buried in the cloud of HIV and Aids - it delivers a powerful message of tolerance and urges audience members to live without fear.

Slipping into the shoes of such complex characters is a difficult task alone but the Hippodrome team is also orchestrating a harmonic tangle of dance and choreography in a bid to up their game following last year’s staging of Grease.

But that’s not all: the whole show will be performed through song alone.

It’s the job of director Josh Hindle, musical director Jack Herbert and choreographer Helen Cheung - the company’s youngest ever production team - to guide the cast through this mesmerising maze of rock, emotion and drama.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Rent in my opinion is just an incredible masterpiece of musical theatre,” said Josh. “Jonathan Larson quit his full-time job to fulfil his dream of staging Rent on the Broadway stage and sadly passed away the night before it opened to amazing vocals and music.

“We are extremely lucky to be staging this musical, as the professional tour has just ended, which I saw three times.”

Dipping into the autobiographical, the play powerfully weaves fear and hope for a gust of inspiration.

“Larson wrote about his own life and the characters you see were his own friends back in the mid 80s,” Josh added. “The show’s about love, togetherness, acceptance, being who you want to be, living everyday by the day and not worrying about tomorrow.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It teaches audiences that no matter how difficult life can become, love will always bring you through. Some people say that the story is no longer meaningful because HIV and Aids are not common but what the story represents is more relevant now than it ever was.”

The show will be on stage from Tuesday to Saturday, September 19th - 23rd at the Hippodrome, New Market Street, Colne, at 7-30pm.

“I for one cannot wait to direct my favourite show and bring it to Pendle,” said Josh. “You can expect a roller coaster of emotions, incredible vocals, amazing dance routines and a story that will leave you appreciating everything you have and love.”

Book on www.phtheatre.co.uk

Related topics: